BBS, you did real good on the swimming time. It amazes me to think about it.

My day was going to Whole Foods, then to bank, then to drug store and then to Lowe's Foods. So that was my walking for the day. Since I, of course, walked in Whole Foods, the drug store and Lowe's Foods that was enough for me for one day. Not as much as I would like to do, but enough for my legs and overall body strength.

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That's a lot of walking Virginia! Yours and agates walking amaze ME! No way I could do that! So weird that there is such a wide variety of symptoms.

I have had bad MS in legs and feet since swimming and only ten minutes tying up the plants, albeit in Florida heat. I just had to be a big shot....hoping that's what it was, and not the start of a new flare...

Tomorrow is surfing! Yipeeeeee! I better be able to go for crying out loud.

DH Took me surfing this morning. The waves were perfect for me. They were knee to thigh high and clean conditions because there was no wind. You could see through the waves and you could see the bottom of the ocean. Although it was hot outside because it was so sunny, The ocean had gotten a bit colder, about 79°. So it was perfect!

I scored six fun waves and I was able to surf for 35 minutes. On 2 of the waves, I was hypnotized by my legs, ankles and feet. I was watching them while I was dropping down the face of the wave and absorbing the energy coming back up through the board , watching my legs control its direction, speed, and ability to float down and not fall off. I was amazed that my ankles and feet were able to manage the small drop and acceleration! One could say I was transfixed. I was so mesmerized that I forgot to pay attention to turning the board to the left in order to glide across the face of the wave. I rescued it just in time!

After about eight minutes, I could feel all of my muscles tightening in my legs, ankles and feet. This does not feel good, but more importantly, it is sometimes the signal that I am in danger of having spasms. So I decided to take the next wave in. I popped up and got a momentary foot spasm which threw me off the board.So, I got out.

My husband was getting ready to wheel me back across the beach when he said, "are you sure you want to leave?"

I was thinking about how disappointing it would be to leave after only eight minutes of surfing. So, I sat in the wheelchair and watched the water for a few minutes. I screwed up my courage and went back out there. I am so glad that I did. I got a few more waves easily. If felt so good to paddle out again against waves that had some push to them. The spray coming at me, sometimes pushing me back ---so glorious. And I just love being out there, spotting what looks like a good wave coming, moving into position and paddling hard to catch the wave. Then the amazing feeling of being lifted and accelerated down the face of the week makes it all worthwhile.

So I did that for a half hour and then it clearly was a good idea to get going while I could still walk and not get crumpled up in spasm pain.

All in all, it was super fun and successful. And bittersweet to see how much I've lost of course. But all of us here are constantly up against trying to seek out some fun while experiencing the bitter sweetness of seeing all we have lost.

No exciting exercising for me today. I got some stuff to clean and polish my hardwoods in foyer and hallway when I went to Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday. So I moved the area rugs and pads they were on and I dusted the floors real good and then I used this stuff and I was amazed at how good they look. It is supposed to clean and rejuvenate. I was satisfied. The only thing I had done in the 24 years I have been here is move the rugs and wipe the floors down with clear water. I was not expecting them to come out as well as they did. So I am going to have someone pick these area rugs up and take them to clean them. I might just look for some smaller ones and let the floors show up for a change.

You might remember that in 2004, I developed lesions on my heart and lungs after injecting eight weeks of recalled batches of Avonex. When I was fighting my way back to health, I started to swim regularly. Within a couple of months I was swimming a mile every day, and I continued to do that until my attack in October of last year.

Anyway, one day on my way home from walking on the beach, I stopped at my favorite produce stand. I knew that the fellow who was waiting on me was an amazing and competitive surfer. So, just to make conversation, I said that the ocean was beautiful that day.

He responded, "do you longboard? ". I said that I did not surf...However, to show that I was not completely out of shape, I added, "but I do swim a mile every day" and he said, "well then you could surf!"

As I was driving home that day, "I said to myself, "I could surf! ". Now mind you, I had had a lifelong fear of the ocean and of sharks. I joke that maybe a lesion developed in my fear center of brain!

When I got home I googled"Surf instructors ", For my area. Six days later, I had my first surf lesson and I was hooked. That was six years ago.

I have been surfing over 400 sessions since then. I gradually put together a crew of middle-aged and senior women who also love surfing. The social aspects of surfing became as much fun as the surfing itself.

What an amazing story! I'd have thought you started surfing at about the age of 10.

And I'd forgotten about the very bad Avonex reaction. Lesions on your heart and lungs??? Is that something that has happened to others on Avonex, I wonder? If so, I'm pretty sure I've never heard of it. Is there a fancy medical name for it?

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